The Wisdom of Wisdom

Reflections on Proverbs

Part One: Learning How to Live

Some books of the Bible tell a story.

Others proclaim God’s message through prophecy.

Some record the history of God’s people.

The Book of Proverbs does none of these.

Instead, it asks a simple but profound question:

How should we live?

The opening verses introduce the purpose of the book:

“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair… The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

These words are much more than an introduction. They are Solomon’s invitation to a lifetime of learning.

When most Christians think about the Old Testament, they naturally think first of Genesis, the Exodus, David and Goliath, Elijah on Mount Carmel, or Isaiah’s great prophecies of the coming Messiah. Those are the stories we learned as children, and rightly so. They form the great narrative of God’s work among His people.

Yet tucked quietly into the center of the Old Testament lies another collection of books that often receives far less attention.

Scholars call them the Wisdom Literature.

They include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.

Collectively they occupy nearly as much space in the Old Testament as the five books of Moses. Yet many Christians spend little time reading them beyond the familiar Psalms and an occasional proverb quoted in a devotional.

That is unfortunate.

The Wisdom Literature was Israel’s handbook for everyday living.

The Law told Israel what was right and wrong.

Wisdom taught them how to live wisely within those boundaries.

The Ten Commandments tell us not to steal.

Proverbs teaches us how to become trustworthy.

The Law commands us not to bear false witness.

Wisdom teaches us when to speak, when to remain silent, and how words can heal or destroy.

The Law condemns greed.

Wisdom teaches us contentment.

One reveals God’s standards.

The other teaches God’s people how to embody those standards in ordinary life.

That is why Proverbs is unlike almost any other book in Scripture.

It contains no sustained storyline.

Its chapters move from one subject to another with surprising speed. One verse may discuss money, the next friendship, the next anger, then laziness, honesty, marriage, justice, pride, or speech. At first glance the book can feel almost random.

But only at first glance.

As you read through Proverbs, certain themes begin appearing again and again like familiar landmarks on a journey. They become the threads that weave hundreds of individual sayings into one beautiful tapestry.

Three of those themes appear repeatedly throughout the book.

The first is the tender invitation, “My son…” Solomon uses this expression over and over again as though an aging father were sitting beside a younger friend, patiently sharing what life has taught him.

The second is the word “better.”

Again and again Proverbs compares one way of living with another. Better a little with righteousness than great wealth with injustice. Better patience than power. Better humility than pride. Wisdom continually reminds us that the best things in life cannot always be measured by money, influence, or success.

The third theme is the phrase, “The fear of the Lord.”

It appears so often that it becomes the foundation upon which every other proverb rests. Wisdom does not begin with intelligence, education, or experience.

It begins with reverence.

Together these three themes answer life’s greatest questions.

Who should I listen to?

How should I choose?

Upon what foundation should I build my life?

Those questions are no less important today than they were three thousand years ago.

Our age has accumulated astonishing knowledge. We can communicate instantly around the globe, map the human genome, explore distant planets, and place nearly all the world’s information into a device that fits inside a pocket.

Yet knowledge alone has never guaranteed wisdom.

We know more than any previous generation.

Whether we live better is another question altogether.

The modern world suffers no shortage of information.

It suffers from a shortage of wisdom.

Perhaps that is why Proverbs feels so surprisingly contemporary. Solomon understood that the greatest decisions we face are rarely between obvious good and obvious evil.

More often they are choices between what is merely attractive and what is truly better.

That is the wisdom Solomon longs to pass along.

And perhaps that is the wisdom we need most today.